Gone Diving

Arriving at Tawau airport, it's a 1 hour car ride to Semporna. No public buses available so it's either shared mini vans, taxis or Grabcar. We stayed at a budget hotel at the jetty as we arrived late in the afternoon. There are a few good restaurants on the waterfront and you can buy some fresh seafood and have it cooked by the restaurants.

Sipadan Kapai Resort

Built on a submerged atoll, the entire resort is on stilts. It's been a while since I last visited and I was pleasantly surprised to see many new facilities and improvements made.

The old restaurant was made a cool chillout area and the 'new' restaurant is awesome with sunset/sunrise views.

The 'rooms' are individual chalets with a private balcony and a tub to soak away (not that you really need to since the sea is all around you!)

Sipadan Island - Diving

In my first visit 20 years ago, I was one of the last few to actually stay on the island itself. Now, it is fully a marine park that one can only visit during the day; that is if you can snag one of the limited number of day passes and only after registering with the park officers.

Amazing underwater life with lots of turtles, barracudas, sharks, jacks, nudibranchs and many more!

Diving around Kapalai Resort

It is also very easy to go diving off the jetty at the dive centre at Kapalai which is a major plus point. Night dives are really interesting too. Again, lots of stuff to see.